1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paint ball gun, more particularly to a paint ball gun which prevents injury to the body and the face of the user during operation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a conventional paint ball gun is shown to include a gun handle 1 and a gun barrel 2 mounted on the gun handle 1. The gun handle 1 has a downwardly extending handgrip portion, and is mounted with a trigger 113 and an upwardly projecting latch member 101 that is operably associated with the trigger 113. The gun barrel 2 is formed with a longitudinally extending propelling chamber 201, a longitudinally extending recuperator chamber 202 parallel to and below the propelling chamber 201, and a longitudinally extending communicating slot 203 to intercommunicate the propelling and recuperator chambers 201, 202. A loading tube 4 is mounted on the gun barrel 2, and is communicated with a front chamber portion of the propelling chamber 201 such that the propelling chamber 201 can be loaded with a paint ball (not shown) via the loading tube 4. The gun barrel 2 is provided with an adapter 8 for communicating a front chamber portion of the recuperator chamber 202 with a high-pressure gas cylinder (not shown). The recuperator chamber 202 has a spring-loaded valve unit 6 disposed in the front chamber portion thereof, and a spring-loaded recuperating unit 7 disposed in a rear chamber portion thereof. The recuperating unit 7 has a recuperator member 902 disposed slidably in the recuperator chamber 202 between the valve unit 6 and a compression spring 703 of the recuperating unit 7. The recuperator member 902 is formed with a latch groove 9022 for engaging the latch member 101, and an engaging hole 9021 for engaging a connecting rod 903 that extends through the communicating slot 203. A propelling member 901 is disposed slidably in the propelling chamber 201, and is connected to the recuperator member 22 by means of the connecting rod 903, which engages an engaging hole 9014 in the propelling member 901. The connecting rod 903 extends transversely between the propelling member 901 and the recuperator member 902, and is slidable along the communicating slot 203 such that the propelling member 901 is movable together with the recuperator member 902 within the gun barrel 2. The propelling member 901 has a rear end provided with an operating knob 9015 which is disposed externally of the propelling chamber 201 and which is operable to pull the propelling member 901 rearwardly so as to move the recuperator member 902 rearwardly for engaging the latch groove 9022 with the latch member 101 and so as to dispose a front end 9011 of the propelling member 901 rearwardly of a lower end of the loading tube 4 to permit loading of a paint ball into the propelling chamber 201 via the loading tube 4. With further reference to FIG. 4, when the trigger 113 is subsequently operated to disengage the latch member 101 from the latch groove 9022, the propelling member 901 and the recuperator member 902 are forced to move forwardly due to biasing action of the spring 703 to propel the paint ball from the front end of the propelling chamber 201. Upon moving forward, the recuperator member 902 pushes a piston rod 603 of the valve unit 6 forwardly to permit the high pressure gas in the cylinder to be introduced into the recuperator chamber 202. The high pressure gas thus forces the recuperator member 902 to move rearwardly so as to once again engage the latch groove 9022 with the latch member 101 in preparation for a subsequent operation. At this time, the propelling member 901 and the operating knob 9015 thereon are moved rearwardly together with the recuperator member 902 to permit loading of a succeeding paint ball. Therefore, the operating knob 9015 is operated only during an initial operation. In the subsequent operations, the recuperator member 902 is pushed rearwardly to engage the latch member 101 by means of the high-pressure gas released from the cylinder, and the propelling member 901 moves rearwardly with the recuperator member 902.
However, since the operating knob 9015 projects from a rear end of the gun barrel 2, and moves fast in the rearward direction due to the high-pressure gas released from the cylinder after each operation, it is very likely that the operating knob 9015 can injure the face or the body of the user during use of the conventional paint ball gun.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball gun which can solve the aforementioned problem of the prior art.
Accordingly, the paint ball gun of the present invention includes a gun handle, an elongated gun barrel, a propelling member, a recuperating unit, a connecting rod, and a manually operable pull unit. The gun handle has an elongated mounting seat, and a handgrip portion extending downwardly from the mounting seat. The mounting seat is provided with a trigger and a latch member that is operably associated with the trigger and that projects upwardly from the mounting seat. The gun barrel is mounted on the mounting seat, and is formed with a longitudinally extending propelling chamber which has a front chamber portion with an open front end and a rear chamber portion with a rear end that is provided with a rear cap, a longitudinally extending recuperator chamber parallel to the propelling chamber, and a communicating hole which intercommunicates the propelling and recuperator chambers and which extends in a longitudinal direction of the gun barrel. The front chamber portion of the propelling chamber is adapted to be loaded with a paint ball therein. The propelling member is disposed in the propelling chamber, and is movable between the front and rear chamber portions of the propelling chamber. The propelling member has a front section proximate to the front end of the propelling chamber, and an opposite rear section. The recuperating unit has a recuperator member disposed slidably in the recuperator chamber and formed with a latch groove for engaging releasably the latch member, and a first biasing spring for biasing the recuperator member to move forwardly. The connecting rod is disposed slidably in the communicating hole. The connecting rod engages the propelling member and the recuperator member such that the propelling member is movable together with the recuperator member. The pull unit is mounted on the rear chamber portion of the propelling chamber, and includes a pull rod and a second biasing spring. The pull rod has a front rod portion proximate to the rear section of the propelling member and formed with an elongated slot which extends in the longitudinal direction of the propelling chamber, a rear rod portion which extends through the rear cap and which is provided with an operating knob that is disposed outwardly of the propelling chamber, and an annular flange formed between the front and rear rod portions and extending around an axis of the rear rod portion. The connecting rod extends into the elongated slot so as to be slidable therealong. The second biasing spring is sleeved around the rear rod portion of the pull rod, and is disposed between the rear cap and the annular flange of the pull rod for biasing the pull rod to move forwardly relative to the gun barrel. The operating knob is operable to pull the pull rod rearwardly against biasing action of the second biasing spring so as to move the connecting rod with the pull rod and to enable the connecting rod to pull the propelling member rearwardly, thereby resulting in corresponding rearward movement of the recuperator member in the recuperator chamber for engaging the latch groove with the latch member. The trigger is operable to disengage the latch member from the latch groove, thereby permitting forward movement of the recuperator member and the propelling member due to biasing action of the first biasing spring in order to propel the paint ball from the open front end of the propelling chamber.